The “Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth” is arriving in Cape Town and will bring together a motley crew of techies, tinkerers, hobbyists and makers for Cape Town’s first Maker Faire, which forms part of the 3rd annual Open Design Festival.
Part science fair, part trade fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors.
All of these “makers” will come to Maker Faire from 20 – 23 August to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.
“Trimble has been a strong supporter and believer in the Maker Movement. This global trend empowers people to create, imagine and solve problems differently. After everything that was demonstrated during the World Design Capital in 2014, there definitely is no doubt that Cape Town is a Maker city and deserved its own platform to show it to the World. We are proud to be the presenting sponsor for this platform, the first annual Cape Town Maker Faire.” says Omar-Pierre Soubra, Director and SketchUp Make Evangelist.
Other partners include the City of Cape Town and the V&A Waterfront.
‘This is an excellent platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their creative and innovative projects. The ‘show and tell’ format of the fair will help to stimulate conversations about projects and will also help to facilitate the sharing of ideas and peer-to-peer learning. Every day we throw away items that we all could, with a little creativity, mould into reusable items. I am sure this fair will inspire many to take up this challenge and in the process help to reduce our carbon footprint by recycling certain items into usable objects,’ said Garreth Bloor, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development.
The V&A Waterfront has embraced creativity and design in all aspects of its operations, recognising talent and local design. CEO David Greene seized the opportunity to partner with Maker Faire, a global phenomenon that had even caught the eye of US President Barack Obama.
Sune Stassen, Festival and Programme Director for the Open Design Cape Town Festival said: “The core principle behind Open Design is to encourage people of all abilities and socio-economic backgrounds to imagine a future and build it with what they learn today. We joined forces with Trimble to host the first Maker Faire to emphasise the role that ‘making’ has in designing the future world we want to create.”
WHAT, WHEN & WHERE: Maker Faire Cape Town will take place 20 – 23 August 2015 at the V&A Waterfront, with a Maker Faire Conference on Thursday 20 August at The Jubilee Hall in the Watershed and the main public exhibition at the Lookout venue from 21 – 23 August 2015. Tickets to the exhibition can be purchased via Quicket.
Event organisers are calling for local exhibitors involved in robotics, home-grown drones, arduino projects, space projects, kit makers, 3D printers, rockets and RC toys, radios, gaming, electric vehicles and other whimsical creations to be part of Maker Faire Cape Town. Exhibitors can apply online here
